Nov. 14, 2009
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
ROCHESTER, Mich. - Senior Johnathon Jones scored 23 points and had nine assists, while senior Derick Nelson returned from a medical redshirt with 20 points, but Eastern Michigan (1-0) had four players in double figures and shot 40 percent (6-15) from three-point range to end the nation's 11th longest home winning streak at 14 games with an 81-77 victory over Oakland University (0-1) on Saturday night inside the Athletics Center O'Rena.
"It's a disappointing way to start the season," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "I think that there was a lot of talk and speculation about how good we are, and all that kind of stuff. I think a good Eastern Michigan team showed us today that we're not that good and we have a lot of work to do.
"This brought everybody back to reality that you've got to play the games; go out, execute and defend and we did not defend very well. We'll talk about that later. They played good game and deserved to win. We battled, hung in there and had a chance at the end and we weren't able to finish it."
Junior Keith Benson tied his own single-game school record with eight blocks and added 15 points for the Golden Grizzlies.
EMU junior Brandon Bowdry led all scorers with 26 points on 9 of 14 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds for a double-double. He was joined in double figures by senior Carlos Medlock and sophomore Antonio Green. Medlock was also returning after a medical redshirt last season.
The Golden Grizzlies could not overcome poor shooting from the outside, only connecting on 4 of 22 from long range. The Eagles made 66 percent of their free throws (19-29), while OU continued to struggle from the line all night making only 45 percent of its attempts (9-20).
The Grizzlies trailed for most of the game by nine points but made a late rally in the second half as Jones connected on a deep three ball to slice the lead to just two points, 79-77, with 44 seconds left in the game to cap a 17-6 run. With time winding down, the Eagles turned the ball over and the Golden Grizzlies called timeout with 27 ticks left. Oakland then turned to Benson down in the post, but he was unable to beat a double team and EMU grabbed the rebound.
A quick foul sent the Eagles' Matt Balkema to the line and he made just 1 of 2. After another timeout, trailing 80-77, junior Larry Wright shot a 3-pointer that went halfway down in the goal and rattled out. Nelson grabbed the rebound, but the put back was off the mark as the Eagles held off the Golden Grizzlies attempt on a comeback.
With a 3-pointer made, Oakland extended its consecutive games streak of at least one made to 630. EMU snapped a three-game losing streak to the Golden Grizzlies.
OU will travel to Wisconsin this Wednesday for a tough road game against the Badgers. Game time is set for 8 p.m. ET inside the Kohl Center and will air on OU's new flagship station WDFN-AM (1130).
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